A pediatric infectious disease specialist has called for more intensified efforts for the country’s routine immunization to prevent cases of vaccine-preventable diseases from rising. There is an “urgent need to double-time on increasing childhood vaccination in the country,” said Dr. Anna Lisa Ong-Lim,  professor and chief of division of infectious and tropical disease in pediatrics at the University of the Philippines-Philippine General Hospital (UP-PGH). Ong-Lim said it is necessary to increase the vaccination coverage to 90 percent. “Karamihan ng nag-a-access ng ating public health services ay talagang hindi nakasunod sa schedule. Ang nangyari noong pandemya (Most of those who access our public health services are really not able to follow the schedule. What happened during the pandemic) is that our immunization coverage decreased significantly,” she said in a statement. “Most of our immunization coverage is roughly about 50 percent. Ano ba ang target natin? 90 percent, conservative pa yon. So kailangan ng catch-up [immunization] (What is our target? 90 percent, that's still conservative. So catch-up [immunization] is needed),” she added. More children will be at risk of contracting vaccine-preventable diseases if the immunization coverage remains low, said Ong-Lim. “If vaccination rates continue to be low, children are at constant risk of contracting infectious diseases,” she said.

Supplemental immunization

Last April 27, the Department of Health (DOH) launched a national supplemental immunization campaign with a goal of vaccinating at least 11 million children against measles, rubella, and polio. The program will officially start on May 2 and will run until May 31. “One of the Department’s evergreen goals is to protect our children from vaccine preventable diseases and those include measles, rubella, and polio," said DOH Officer-in-Charge Maria Rosario Vergeire in a separate statement. “This is also a time to renew public trust in the value of all vaccines and continue to build long-term support and awareness for immunization, as vaccines have proven to be critical in containing or limiting outbreaks of infectious diseases,” she added. Meanwhile, the League of Municipalities of the Philippines (LMP) expressed its support for this vaccination campaign. “The success of vaccination programs relies heavily on their implementation by local government units, the workhorses of national government agencies,” said LMP Secretary General and Barcelona, Sorsogon Mayor Atty. Cynthia Falcotelo-Fortes in a statement. Falcotelo-Fortes assured that municipal local government units (MLGUs) “shall continue to advocate the wisdom and importance of routine and catch-up immunization.” “In the case of vaccination, yes, DOH crafted and funded programs cascaded to MLGUs: from the supply of the vaccines to disease awareness support under its Healthy Pilipinas campaign, but these are not the only programs out there that MLGUs actualize,” she said. “MLGUs have a big pie of programs, projects, and activities on health and a myriad of local services. Vaccination is but a slice of that pie. Prioritization is key. Routine immunization should rank high in the order of priorities,” she added.